Painted Earth Temple by Heyoka Merrifield

Author:Heyoka Merrifield
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Published: 2007-07-15T00:00:00+00:00

Spotted Cat still had not killed a large herd animal after many days alone in the forest, but he had speared fish and killed a few give-away birds with his slingshot for food. He walked along quietly and came upon a great owl a few steps away in a nearby tree. The owl looked into his eyes, then slowly turned its head to look around the forest. Spotted Cat could see that the owl did not focus on individual objects the way Cat did. Even when the owl appeared to look directly into Cat’s eyes, its vision seemed to encompass everything in the surrounding forest. Spotted Cat used his newly learned owl vision to hunt for the rest of the day.

Using his new skill, Cat saw many more animals than he had ever seen before. Also, he found that when he did not focus directly on the animals he encountered, they would not run away. They seemed to feel that they were safely hidden from him because of their body markings and coloring. At times, just for fun, Cat would stop next to one of these “hidden” animals, turn in its direction, and stare at it. He could feel the tension rise in the animal as he touched it with his eyes. A thrill shot through Cat’s body when this stalking was successful. He soon understood why Horse had sent him into the forest to learn from its creatures. He also realized that the stalking method of hunting used by his medicine animal was his method of choice as well.

The next day, Spotted Cat painted his body to look like the trees. As he walked through tall grass, two deer raised their heads from where they were bedded down. Cat froze with one foot in the air. His leg started to feel shaky after a while and the deer still watched him. Very slowly, and over a period of many breaths, Cat lowered his foot. The deer did not react to his motion. Using the same deliberate movement, he walked on, never looking at them, until a tree stood between him and the deer.

Using the tree’s cover, Cat was now able to creep very close to the two deer. When he got close enough to throw a spear, he stepped out from behind the tree. Both deer snapped their heads up to look at him. Cat’s spear hand was not ready, so he froze again. One of the deer walked toward him, sniffing the air. Cat was glad that the wind blew in his face, carrying his scent away from her. The deer then stomped her foot at Cat, who stood as still as a tree. Soon, she seemed to forget what had distracted her and lowered her head to continue grazing. At this distance, Cat could not miss and his spear struck deeply into the deer’s heart. She fell dead onto the ground and her companion bolted away into the forest.

Cat honored the deer with a give-away song taught to him by Running Horse.

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